Laying the dead to rest has never been so much trouble in this new animated short film from directors Smith & Foulkes at London studio Nexus Productions, entitled This Way Up. This eight-minute comedy about father-and-son undertakers and an uncooperative corpse, The film makes its UK Premiere at BFI London Film Festival this weekend and it will be available to watch online on www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork in the near future.

The animated caper is a series of emotional and literal pitfalls for the pall-bearing team, as their journey and relationship unravel on an epic scale culminating in the pair joining the old lady in a trip through the underworld.

The film was made in full HD at the Nexus studio in London over a period of five months with their in-house team of animators and designers. It was supported by BBC Film, BBC Comedy and BBC Film Network, ARCADI in France and Mike Judge’s The Animation Show in the US.

"This Way Up is an exciting film for us, not least because its success with audiences is an indication of the growing appetite for independent animated films," said producer Christopher O’Reilly. "We are keen to develop long format ideas in this area."

Smith & Foulkes are best known for their award-winning animated commercials, including Honda's classic Grrr the GTA-riffing Videogame for Coca-Cola, the bunny-driven Grand Classics for Motorola.